Direct quote from one of the top pilots at the world champs 2015
1. The third Vector. This is absolutely essential for flying in the wind. It will tell you how big and how far away a thermal is. It is not down the end of the streamer. Learn it, practice it, re-learn it and practice it again, and again and again and again until the penny drops. I had to rearange the vector in my head to make it work for me, so find a way that works for you. Look up Joes video on youtube 'Joe Wurts on soaring'.
2. Iterating the air. You need to be able to look at all he signs (ground, air, plane, competitors, etc) continually (e.g about every 20 seconds) to form a picture in your head of the change is the weather and location and movement of thermals. Reading the air once or twice a flight is not enough. I had to teach myself to be able to centre a thermal while I was feeling the breeze changes, watching the trees, calculating my 3rd vector and updating my brain where the next thermal is, then doing it all again and again and again. Listen to Joe's podcast on Radio CarbonArt's website and use his training suggestions.
Part 2B of this is you need a stable and easy to fly plane. My brain is not big enough to iterate the air and be struggling with a plane that is allover the sky.
3. Plane signs - This is what the air is doing around the plane. Is the plane pulling right or left, or accelerating forward or slowing down. This tells you where the lift is relative to your plane, The
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